1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a self-supporting dispersing apparatus that can be used as a soil classifier and for other applications requiring particle size reduction of solids. The apparatus is economically constructed, light weight and able to be lifted by hand into or out of a vessel, and more particularly relates to an improved form of similarly purposed machines by simplifying and reducing the number of mechanical components and weight by applying a combination of fluid dynamic bearing films supported by submerged bearing surfaces, a self-centering pumping screw housed in a conduit and a fully articulated motor platform.
2. Background
Similarly purposed machines such as basket and/or grinding mills are used for the deconglomeration and particle size reduction of solids within a liquid vehicle facilitating the use of a grinding media agitated by the use of high speed rotating blades, shafts, bearings, bearing housings, pulleys, belts, motors and rigid structural supports. These machines are generally supported outside of a vessel or affixed to the top edge of a vessel. Complex drive mechanisms are often supported by heavy bearing housing assemblies and without the advantages of fairly robust motor frames. High speed rotating shafts are designed either with or without a shaft end support. Without an end support, the shaft diameter and bearings must be large enough to prevent a catastrophic bending failure. An advantage of an end support is the ability to use smaller diameter shafts and bearings. The end support is typically a bushing or sealed bearing submerged in the process. The disadvantage of a submerged bushing or sealed bearing is the continuous maintenance concerns of wearing parts and the potential of process contamination due to wear surface material attrition.
Similar machines without the use of submerged bearings such as Araki's U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,447,372 and 7,275,704; Inoue's U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,029,915 and 6,325,310; and Ishikawa's U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,147 include the use of drive mechanisms that are well engineered to withstand excessive shaft deflections and are suitable for a wide variety of processes with minimal concern of solid accumulations in or around mechanical components that could be detrimental to the finished product.
A bushing or bearing near the end of a high speed rotating shaft is effective in reducing critical shaft deflections and as a result reduction of shaft diameters, bearing sizes and related drive components. Submerged bushings and/or bearings are found in several other similarly purposed machines such as Getzmann's U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,024; Hockmeyer's U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,184,783 through 7,883,036; Schieweg's U.S. Pat. No. 7,641,137; and D'Errico's U.S. Pat. No. 8,047,459. These machines are also referenced to illustrate the similar use of basket milling technology with emphasis on the downward direction of the process flow through the screened bottom of a cylindrical basket.
Some of the referenced patents include pumping screws and/or propellers either affixed to or part of a shaft for pumping process fluid downward through their respective assemblies. Where a bushing is used to stabilize a shaft, grinding media often escapes the basket which can be detrimental to the process and related mechanical components.
Although combinations of pumping screws and/or propellers plus the use of submerged bearings or bushings are used throughout the wet grinding basket milling industry as indicated above, intentionally pumping process components and liquid through main bearings for further deconglomeration and particle size reduction of solids within a liquid vehicle is not evident in similarly purposed machines.
The present invention includes the intentional pumping and particle size reduction of process components and liquid vehicle through submerged bearing surfaces forming fluid dynamic bearing films as the main radial and axial bearing supports of a classifier shaft assembly fitted to a fully articulated motor mounting platform providing multiple degrees of freedom. As a result, the drive system can be reduced in complexity, weight and cost.
All patents, patent applications, provisional patent applications and publications referred to or cited herein, are incorporated by reference in their entirety to the extent they are not inconsistent with the explicit teachings of the specification.
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